The Dead Linger

It's been a while since we brought you a fresh piece of news from the undead world of The Dead Linger. Sandswept Studios has released a pretty in-depth new dev tracker feature, so we figured the time was ripe for an update.

Alpha testing for The Dead Linger is progressing steadily, with the studio releasing regular updates for bugfixes and new features. At this point in time, we're about 30% of the way to final release. Sandswept has quite a bit more to add to the game, from fine tuning mechanics to introducing a ton of new features to what is a very early-development game.

How do we know it's 30% of the way to completion?

That information comes in the latest update to The Dead Linger which is actually not a game update, but an incredibly in-depth web update on The Dead Linger's website. The brand new Development Roadmap online illustrates exactly what Sandswept Studios is working on in The Dead Linger and how the game is progressing. The Roadmap can be viewed at http://www.thedeadlinger.com/roadmap.

Sandswept Studios has released a huge update for The Dead Linger, bringing a wealth of gameplay additions and fixes as well as bug fixes to increase stability. Indeed, Sandswept is saying that The Dead Linger 'should crash substantially less than it has in previous builds. 007 is officially the most stable build to date.'

Perhaps most notably, this update includes the addition of prisons in the game world. These prisons are featured prominently in the latest trailer for Build 007, which you can watch at the bottom of this post. Other notable updates include over 70 new art assets, making the game world in The Dead Linger 'look newer, fresher, more realistic, and more beautiful than ever before.' Terrain, in general, got a lot of work with changes coming to farmland, trees, texturing and more.

Additionally, most of the world loading is now being done at the loading screen, making for a smoother experience when you first spawn in.

Other changes include:

Survivors can now see their first person hands, along with dozens of new animations for weapons, reloading, and more.

The framerate during gameplay has been drastically increased in almost all cases, and the world looks much better than ever before.

There is now a temporary compass in the top right of the HUD. It shows the cardinal direction you are facing (North, East, South, etc.) and your X Y location in the world, accurate to 100 meters.

Survivors now require backpacks for larger inventory space. Survivors start with “pockets,” by default. Pockets are a small 3×4 inventory space that can hold a very limited amount of items.

All knockback from weapons will now work properly. This provides a substantial change to melee combat.

Check out a video focused on Build 007 after the break and visit http://www.thedeadlinger.com/archives/1531 to read the full patch notes, there's much more going on here than we have the room to list so give it a look!

If you're interested in The Dead Linger, we can't recommend visiting The Dead Linger Wiki enough. It's an invaluable resource, officially endorsed by Sandswept Studios and has everything you need to get started in the game.

Sandswept Studios has launched a brand new portal on their website, detailing their long-term plans for The Dead Linger. Immediately, of course, this includes the closed alpha test that is currently ongoing. After alpha, though, that is when things get interesting.

Before Beta testing gets underway, Sandswept has more plans for the alpha version of the game, including getting the core gameplay mechanics in place.

Some of the highlights of alpha testing include:

DRM-Free! Install on as many PCs as you want! Play offline anywhere!

The core game mechanics in place, to at least a rough level, from head to toe!

Lots of fun features and “stuff to do” updates, such as campfires, scavenging, barricading, and more!

Basic crafting system

Improved zombie AI and pathing, better zombie appearance

Limited customization on the player (hair, face, eyes) and more, including female character models.

Item delivery system for special (non-pay-to-win) items, for KS backers, early pre-order bonus, and more!

Once Alpha testing is completed, Sandswept will move the game into Beta testing. This second stage will bring further updates to the game, including updates to all of the existing mechanics and features as well as a ton of cool new features, including vehicles and new regions to explore (and slay zombies in)!

Sandswept Studios has released alpha build 005 for The Dead Linger this week, bringing the game ever closer to beta and, ultimately, final release. The changelog for this update, which is being dubbed Feliz Navidead incidentally, is pretty hefty like most of the previous alpha builds for the game. This time around, the update includes a handful of new weapons including the powerful .308 Vegas rifle and, probably the one we're most excited about, a Katana melee weapon.

Some of the other highlights include:

There is a new type of ammunition in the game. (.308)

There is a new, rare, and more powerful .308 scoped rifle – the Vegas Rifle.

There are a few new melee weapons, including a Katana.

There are some new furniture pieces to be found in the world.

Certain items have had their spawn rates tweaked. Firearms in particular should spawn quite a bit less often now.

Multiple improvements have been made to the console window.

Players now have visible backpacks. This is one step closer to swappable backpacks, which are planned in a very near update. We will have more information on the Kickstarter backpack reward later on.

Firearms now spawn in the world with at least 1 box of ammunition.

Zombies no longer slide around as much in the distance.

Other crash and bug fixes.

As always, the full changelog can be read at http://www.thedeadlinger.com/. In addition to this fresh new content, Sandswept has dropped the price of The Dead Linger to just $19.99. There's no timeline on this price drop, so make sure you pick it up now and get in on the alpha early!

If you're in the alpha, or if you're looking to learn more about the game before picking it up, make sure you visit the official Dead Linger Wiki at http://thedeadlinger.gamepedia.com/!

Sandswept Studios has released alpha build 004 for The Dead Linger, introducing the largest amount of content in a single patch to date. This update introduces changes to just about everything in The Dead Linger, from the loading screen to changes in the game world itself.

One of the more notable new features is the ability to aim down the sights when wielding various weapons. Along with the addition of ADS, hip firing is less accurate now, rewarding players for taking the time to play smartly and place accurate shots. Another big change to firearms is ammo consumption. Weapons will now require ammunition, which will be consumed from your inventory upon reloading.

As small as these additions might seem, it is what we love about following The Dead Linger development...this is game design and progression at its earliest, rawest stages and we love it.

As you can imagine, the full changelog in this beast of an update is massive so make sure you visit http://www.thedeadlinger.com/archives/1366 to read it and get instructions on how to update your client if you're in the alpha testing.

Last month, we had the chance to sit down with Geoff Keene, design director at Sandswept Studios to chat about the studios' upcoming game The Dead Linger. In that interview, we focused in on what motivates the development team, discussing where their envisioning of a 'zombie' came from and what forms of zombie media they like to consume (presumably once it is properly dead and prepared to health regulations).

This time around, we're talking about the game itself, discussing some of the features to come in The Dead Linger. The game is at a very early stage and, as such, it's a lot of fun to see what the thought process is like at this point in development.

Without further preamble, the interview!

During development, have you run into any major road blocks? What were they? How did you overcome them?

The largest hurdle we've had in development so far was simply getting the funding to continue doing what we love, hence, the Kickstarter. Kickstarter was the perfect opportunity for us to pitch our game (in early development) to the world, and the response was fantastic, and has helped fund us for the remainder of this year.

What feature are you most excited about adding? Why?

I'm personally most excited for the world generation we have planned -- all the other features I'm excited for are getting added pretty soon, and many of them in 004. After 004, we've got some huge plans for overhauling the way we generate the world, and really start adding some variety to the scenery, from rolling hills, to forests, to small towns, to farmland, to huge cities, and the list goes on and on.

Building a zombie sandbox game is pretty ambitious. Obviously the Minecraft development/sales model worked well for them, what led you to implement this type of model?

We're basically running on the money we have -- a very limited amount -- and we have to have an early, playable, purchasable product in order to keep development going. The amount of people checking out the game and buying it directly influences how long we can continue.

If we waited 2 or 3 years to release, like many titles, we simply wouldn't be able to continue working on it full time.

Keep reading for more on The Dead Linger with Sandswept Studios' Design Director Geoff Keene.

Sandswept Studios has released a brand new alpha build for The Dead Linger as well as an accompanying developer diary, explaining some of the new content.

The full changelog for build 003a can be found at the source link below, but some of the notable changes in this update include:

Load screen now establishes instantly when running or joining a game.

Sounds (except music) do not play in the loading screen anymore.

Add refresh button to server list.

Player count now shows on servers. Instead of “0/0”, Current/Max will now show properly.

Objects no longer jitter or wiggle around when they should be sitting still on the floor or ground.

Fixed a few cases where you would crash on disconnect from server.

The update will automatically download and install when you fire up The Dead Linger's executable (so long as you previously updated to build 003), so don't worry about any confusing installation instructions. If you're not in The Dead Linger alpha test, you can do so by visiting http://www.thedeadlinger.com/iwanttolinger.

The alpha test is very early, so you can help directly shape the future of the game with your feedback. Hit the link below to view the full changelog and we'll see you in the game!

The Dead Linger is a brand new zombie survival in-development at Sandswept Studios. The team is ambitious and has a pretty impressive laundry list of features that they're going to be adding into the game as it progresses. The Dead Linger is available now in early alpha testing, as Sandswept has opened the doors to the community much earlier than other studios.

So, what sets The Dead Linger apart? To answer that question, you have to first take a close look at the studio themselves and learn where they get inspiration. We're going to be running a series of interviews with various team members at Sandswept Studios, to learn more about the guys making the game and what makes them tick.

To start things off, we sat down with Geoff Keene to discuss The Dead Linger, the current state of zombie survival games and what inspired him to get started on his latest project.

Behind every great zombie game, there is a powerful example undead inspiration. Such is the case with Geoff Keene, who drew his first inspiration to build a zombie survival game from Max Brooks' classic Zombie Survival Guide.

"My original influence for The Dead Linger came from reading Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide way back when I was 15 or so," says Keene. "Since I read that book, I'd been designing and writing down this massive, sprawling world of zombies for the player to survive within." He continues, saying, "I took a lot of influence after that from The Walking Dead graphic novel, long before the TV show. Dawn of the Dead (the 2002 version) is also one of my large influences on the wide range of stuff I'd like to see the player doing in The Dead Linger."

The team has also drawn a lot of influence from zombie films, as well, particularly the work of George Romero and Dawn of the Dead. Geoff Keene explains: "We are definitely taking a Romero approach to our zombies. We're all definitely big fans of The Walking Dead and some of the older Dawn of the Dead movies, but we're also creating our own canon when it comes to what a zombie is and what it isn't. I feel zombies in games have really lost the creepy, walking-corpse factor, and have become angry shooting-gallery targets for high-speed shooters.

"I feel zombies in games have really lost the creepy, walking-corpse factor."

"We're bringing back the pacing, the survival, and horror of classic zombie movies. That means barricading, scavenging, and escaping the teeming hordes." As for what he's playing these days, in between late night dev sessions? "I've found myself playing League of Legends, ARMA (not DayZ, believe it or not), Natural Selection 2, and I just picked up Chivalry, because I like getting my arms chopped off a lot or something."

Keep reading for more on The Dead Linger from our chat with Geoff Keene, Creative Director at Sandswept Studios.

Look out DayZ. Watch your back, The War Z. There's a new zombie survival game on the block and it means business. The Dead Linger entered alpha testing today and all you have to do to get in is place your pre-order for the game online.

We love zombie survival games at FPS General, so we can't wait to jump into the alpha test for The Dead Linger. With its sandbox-style gameplay and massive, sprawling suburban map, The Dead Linger hopes to be more than your average zombie survival game. Every house in the game is explorable. Every room, in every house, through every door.

Sandswept, the studio working on The Dead Linger, aren't totally throwing the staples of the genre to the wolves, however. Things like hunger still play a factor, you're going to need to scavenge for food if you don't want to starve to death. The Dead Linger has a regular day/night cycle and, yes, you do get a flashlight. The differences here, however, are that some food has gone bad (it's post-apocalypse, right? Even your Raviolios can't last forever) and your flashlight doesn't last forever.

Eating spoiled food is a surefire way to get sick. You'll notice the ill effects right away if you do dig into some rotten nummies. As for the flashlight, it runs on a finite battery, lasting only five minutes for a full charge. You'll have to recharge the battery between uses, which takes about one minute, during which you are going to be in the dark.

We'll have more on The Dead Linger in the coming weeks, but for now, understand that when Sandswept says alpha test, they mean alpha test...